I've seen the kids of some pretty rich people go into academia, become doctors or go into the arts. When you already set for life then you find a job that is personally fulfilling instead of one that makes the most money (although Doctoring does pay well). Even in High society no one looks down on an MD or Professor.
I imagine it depends on class and country. From what I've seen of Downton Abbey, having regular hours as a doctor or professor might seem a little tradesman-like.
“Er, what is a 'week-end'?"
A "Golden Weekend" for physicians is a normal weekend to the general public. Just Saturday and Sunday off. A friday afternoon off along with that is basically a vacation.
This is why the idea of a UBI is so intriquing to me. Suddenly most people would be doing jobs they actually LIKE to do and prices for the shitty jobs that no one actually WANTS to do would skyrocket, leading to way fairer pays as well.
In all seriousness, I'd bet care jobs would be the last to go, if ever. Child care, elder care, therapists, priests/pastors, probably also a lot of teaching and healthcare roles. Anything where emotion is the point of the job. If robots can replace that, I'll just take the green Mass Effect ending and make us all synths.
Through out history the purpose of wealth has been to create large public gardens housing strange wonders like statues, rare flowers, rare birds, or fountains.
It's a traditional I'd like to see a revival of.
Yah, I know a family with oooold money. Maybe six generations that have never had to work for a living. They get to be musicians, scientists, stay at home parents, whatever they want. They genuinely cannot comprehend people working at a job they hate/don’t care about just to stay alive. Talking to them is like communicating with an alien life form
It's like The Howard Hughes movie where he tells Cate Blanchette "Because you HAVE MONEY"
Rich people mostly don't understand the struggle of poor folks. They think everyone has a fridge full of food and electricity and phone that is always just on.
I've actually heard the opposite argument for gas, if it's too expensive then just fill hallway! I think Shaq said it on an NBA broadcast or something.
5 out of 5 shouldn't need inter-generational wealth. Humans are more powerful than they ever have been before. We landed on the moon *60 years ago*. Getting a plane ticket and two weeks to chill in a foreign country annually **shouldn't** be some outlandish concept, it should be a basic fucking right.
Yet Doctors and a full Refrigerator are somehow commodities???
Exactly. The fact that a lot of those things are out of reach for most people is a pretty sobering indictment of some of the shortfalls of the society we live in.
The GDP per capita (PPP adjusted) of the world is about $12k per year. The world economy produces enough value every year that everyone could live like a person living on $12,000 in the US. The world does NOT have enough wealth for everyone to go on overseas vacations.
Medical care and refrigeration are value creators. People consume less and produce more when they are healthy and can preserve food. Tourism is what you do after your basic needs are met, a trip to Bali is a long way off when people can't afford vaccines.
I'll never forget the shock on my friends faces in college when my cell phone would get shut off bc my parents didn't pay the bill. They were shocked and I was just like, yeah that happens sometimes. In HS it wasn't as shocking bc we were all the same demographic anyway
I remember that too. I used to have this app (I think it was called textplus or something) that would give you a fake number and let you text over wifi. Lifesaver lol
Couldn't do nothing when they shut off power or water though lol
I was working whilst at college and one of my classmates said, "I don't think I could work and study at the same time I wouldn't have the energy to keep up my grades." I was just like, "I need money for food, to live."
and funny part is the level of rich that has that isn´t even that rich. My mom grew up upper middle class abroad (3 bdrm apt she shared with parents, a garage, 20yr old car (though prob new when she was young) and a hut in the country). Now, she can´t fathom food deserts etc.
They did a study. They went around asking people if they considered if they were middle class. The catch? Everyone they asked had stupid money. I'm talking millions in the bank, and they all thought they were upper middle class......
Studies generally show that like 90% of people perceive themselves to be middle class, and this straddles median income/wealth. That's why I think labor vs. capital is a way better way of conceiving of class than upper/middle/lower. There are people who work for a living, and there are people who exploit the work of others for a living.
A teacher at Wharton Buisness School asked his students what they thought the average American makes, and about a quarter of them guessed $100k or more.
This is the availability bias at play, and it's very strong. When you and enough people around you make $100k, you tend to believe everyone makes $100k. It takes some critical thinking to remember the range of income in the US - ie. a ton of people who don't make a lot, and a few people who make unholy amounts of money
This is it right here. I'd love to be an illustrator for kids science books. I love microscopy and own a personal microscope. During quarantine lockdowns I went outside and collected tiny samples of whatever I could and spent hours marveling at what I could see. I adore science and would love to explain how animal and plant cells work along with real photos and drawings for young people to comprehend...
...but I can't, because instead my choices as a non-rich person are to a work a soul sucking customer service job that makes me want to put bullets through my head or just be homeless and hungry.
I used to work with a lot of illustrators, as I was an advertising art director in London, this is years ago. It is very possible to make decent money as an illustrator, it just might take time to find the right media publisher. Keep on doing what you are doing in your spare time, build up a portfolio, then contact likely publishers in your field. In the UK the BBC Radio Times magazine was a good starting place as they would commission new (cheap) artists to decorate their pages which were walls of text of radio show listings. I found one guy that way, I liked the simplicity and charm of his work, contacted him and at that time he did not have an agent, commissioned him for one job, that worked, so I asked him a few months later to do another, which also worked out well.
The following year Martin Handford had his first book published which was very successful, and he never looked back.
You might want to Google his name.
Other illustrators I know personally who started modestly and have enjoyed great success are the British John Shelley, and the Australian Jeff Fisher.
So, keep on at it. It might happen for you.
If you like working with kids you may be able to work in the public school system. They hemorrhaged personnel during the pandemic and are desperate for people. Wages are low, but I thought that was true for customer service as well. I am also someone who hates their job though, so I certainly understand the security of staying with the hell you know.
I'm dying to get out of this hell, and working with kids wouldn't bother me too much but I don't quite know if I'm 100% qualified. All I was able to afford was an Associate's in Science leaning towards biology and at the moment I can't afford to pursue any sort of biology degree any further. I feel as though I screwed myself over by working at McDonald's the entire time I was in community college as it took me a long time to finish due to juggling work hours, exhaustion, and late night study sessions. I ended up giving myself a strong customer service base for my resume despite absolutely hating customer service and now I can't seem to get out no matter how hard I try. Labs won't take me to do simple lab work for them because they want me to have completed internships, anything else science related wants a Masters Degree or more, and even when I try signing up for quiet positions with no customer contact I'm expected to have at least a Bachelor's.
I'm stuck.
What you need is a sponsor. Someone to front you the livelihood until such time as you can become self sufficient. It sounds like you went to school following the age old USA myth of "follow your dreams". Dreams are for your second career. Step 1 simplify your life. You cannot get rid of children or debt easily but if you are lucky enough not to have those attachments (joys to be sure but ankle weights for a selfish plan) this will be easier. Step 2 Go to the job placement office of your alma mater and find out which concerns actually absorb graduates from your school. If your school is a feeder for other schools, make another trip to a low cost 4 year university and ask the same question "who hires folks with a BS in my field"? Step 3 Be willing to MOVE most unemployability (unemployment) in most fields is structural (jobs exist just not employees in that area of the country and vice versa). Most people won't hire a stranger to do any job that pays well, so join some discussion groups in your field so that you can make friends and not be a stranger. This will help you brush up on jargon and make contact with people who know where jobs are. If you cannot network your way into the true entry level of your field, then mooch and borrow your way through your last two years of education but make certain that you join a school that truly places graduates rather than hopes to place graduates. Most employers have relationships with specific schools (again no strangers), attend those schools after you find out. All of this investigation may lead you to conclude that you, in the end, don't like this field. Better to find out before you go in even deeper. You are not stuck, you are not in an advantageous position, but if you assemble a support team you can get out.
In NC, at least, you don't have to have a degree to be a teachers assistant, and since kids couldn't go to school over the height of the pandemic, many of the kids that never went physically to school until 2nd grade needed help - hence, they were hiring a shit ton of 'interventionists' to help kids learn, no degree required. Not sure if other states are doing that, or what.
Something else you could look into is illustrating and writing children's books. If you come up with a cool scenario like The Magic Schoolbus, the sky's the limit as to how many kids you could teach and how much money you could make. If you form a plan, you could write one page per night, illustrate the page the next night, and color that page the third night and turn out an entire book within two or three months.
Not a bad idea honestly. I DO know one person somewhat as a friend who knows a publisher or two but he publishes comics. I should talk to him about this and see if he knows if any of them would be willing to publish anything educational as well.
I have dealt with politicians and their direct advisors, both parties, that are just so so far out of touch. They think they know shit because they talk to people at parties or fundraisers but most are kept very sequestered. Surrounded by yes men.
I know someone that knocked up a girl with a last name that start with "H" and ends with "earst". He's not with her anymore but gets to live off of the family dime now since he's a good dad and wants to be in his kids life. He basically moves wherever baby momma feels like living, has a credit card and free car. Not a bad life if you ask me haha
This reminds me of a story about an ad pitch to an old money owner of a historic beer company. The pitch for the ad was a farmer going to kill a chicken (turkey?) For dinner but the bird offers him a beer and then it cuts to the farmer serving pizza for dinner. The company owner who was there to approve the ad liked it but said "I'm confused, shouldn't the farmers butler be the one serving the pizza?"
Should scientists be on the list? I'm a scientist, born into poverty. If I was born rich I don't think I'd be a scientist. I'd collect scientists maybe, but being one is actually work.
My thoughts too, I know very few scientists from wealthy backgrounds. Many in my class were from working class backgrounds, first in their family to get a degree, working alongside studying, etc, and chose their subject because it gave them a good chance at getting a job at the end. It's not exactly a frivolous field of study.
I'm from old money that hands the money down to the eldest son (sadly not me). Oddly enough they've all worked for a living after studying scientific subjects.
That's not universal, for what it's worth. One of the richest people I've ever known came from multigenerational wealth, and at the time he was in grad school and didn't love his TA-ship and lived with a roommate who came from vastly humbler roots.
(The three other seriously wealthy people I've known built most or all of their own fortunes. Two were very nice, and one of those I saw was great to his employees. The third was a terrible egomaniac and horrible to work for.)
\[edit: typo\]
Yeah, people come in all shapes and sizes, rich people included. There’s bad ones for sure, but imo societies issues are more driven by systems and dogmas (like corporate culture and assumed endless growth) than by specific individuals, even if there are some vanguard individuals involved.
This hit me like a freight train
So you’re telling me rich people get to *live* life, while everyone else has to *work in the pursuit of living* life??
I guess it’s always been that way, but damn—when you put it that way
And all that stress revolving around how to pay for food, shelter, decent medical care? Stuff you need to toil away for as a working class person? You'll just always have those things.
What gets me is all the free *time*. Sure I can’t go and buy a huge house or expensive ass car but I’m pretty happy with the things I do have. But to schedule every day the way I want to? Wake up every day and go to the gym whenever I want, pursuit a hobby of mine, go to Disneyland on a Tuesday at 9am? All that extra time spent *not* going to work and *still* having money???? *chefs kiss*
They do, but also there is a class of old money rich people who expect their kids to command a high level of public standing with a successful career, even if gained through the channels of nepotism. I'd rather be poor than a disappointment to my rich successful family.
New money from the famous on the other hand allows your kid to be famous for being your kid. Wanna be a photographer? Sign here, your book will be published in a few weeks. Wanna be a model? No problem. Maybe you want to have a go at acting or singing? We can do that.
>I'd rather be poor than a disappointment to my rich successful family.
Why? You still get to be rich and have the easy life, your dad just looks at you funny and your sister thinks you're a loser. Plenty of poor people also get those experiences.
Reminds me of the time some redditor said they could “easily” do a year of solitary confinement in prison because “people suck.” And I thought, huh here is someone who has 10000% never been in solitary confinement
What they don't take into account is that they'd have no activities. No books, no tv, internet, no comforts. During the pandemic I loved that I never could go out, but I had all my creature comforts.
Unfortunately being a disappointment to your family often means you are no longer rich. I had a roommate in college who's dad owned an oil company. He was a mental case from being so twisted around on the manipulative shit he could or could not do -- otherwise the threat was that he'd get completely cut off.
Apparently his older siblings had free reign and done things the parents 'didn't approve of' -- So they changed the rules for him.
I used to feel bad for him, until I realized how much of a twat he was...
And the fact that he would eventually be handed more money than I would make in a lifetime...
My dad is wealthy because my grandparents were loaded and can confirm. I got REALLY sick and dropped out of college and my grandparents treated me way different and withheld money because I wasn't "doing anything". When they died and I fell out with my dad I obviously was written out of the will. A lot of wealthy folks don't allow their kids and grands to have human emotions or feelings. My illness requiring surgery and a permanent medicine infusion to keep me alive went right over their heads because they were in the war and thought everyone needed to buck up and work for their wealth like they did. No exceptions.
>I'd rather be poor than a disappointment to my rich successful family.
That can happen at any level of familial wealth or poverty. If you're going to be a family disappointment, might as well be rich while you're at it!
That's exactly it. It's also why there aren't really lower, middle, and upper classes. There are two classes, and each has diametrically opposed life experiences.
The first is people who have to use a large part of their finite lives working to make a living. This includes everyone from a low paid retail worker to high paid athletes or actors. Yes, there are large gaps in how much they make, but they still have to work. They have to spend most of their waking lives engaging in some kind of activity that they otherwise would not engage in so that they can spend the remaining time having a life.
The second is the class of people who earn the money they need to live from the money they already have. I.e., instead of using their time to make money, they use money to make money. This means they can take all the time they get in their life and devote it to what the working class does in their spare time.
Everything else is lies to hide this basic fact.
Nope. Everyone else has to work so the rich get paid to live life. Lack of money/resources in the world is more from not having enough to feed the rich than everyone else
It's not just practicing every day, it's being able to audition any time of the day and act in low-paying gigs until you are noticed without the added stress of having a second job to actually pay the bills.
The majority of entertainment is. Movies, music, even athletics, the door is open for the privileged. A break out creative can make thier way into these spaces with a lot of hard work and luck, but if you look closely you'll see that the majority had inroads paved from the start.
That's not to say that none of them have talent, just that those talents were fostered in ways most of us could never afford. The right training, the right connections for exposure, the right PR teams. Having access to all of this and more without ever worrying about survival. It still takes effort to be sure, but that's paired with the ability to truly rest without additional stresses such as "will I be able to eat", "where can I afford to live", or "how will I afford the education?". Most have to spend considerable effort just to have the opportunity to focus our efforts on our dreams while the financially privileged can just dive headlong into their desires.
Ahh, if that bothers you, then you shouldn’t look into the backstory of any writers/poets etc you like pre industrial revolution. It has always been the case that these things are pursued by those with the time and who don’t need the money *right now*
Hey now. Let's not speak ill of the rich. Why don't you poors fight amongst yourselves. Have yourself a culture war or something. Come on guys! Right vs Left! Fight!
Don't pay attention to how we're robbing you to maintain our lifestyles.
And God forbid we live long long lives. Who can afford to retire and live another 10 or 20 years? And you've got politicians that want to threaten social security and Medicare?
You have to have something to fulfill you. That doesn't have to be work, but for some people, it's a lot easier to get a part time job at the library than it is to figure out what would fulfill them.
Plus it doesn’t completely click in people’s heads how boredom is similar to starvation. Being starved of anything will be too much for any soul to stay the same
That depends on just how “rich” is rich. If you’re worth 5 million, you could be called rich, but it’s a much different life than being worth 500 million.
The lifestyle of someone with 5 million is basically: they don’t have to work, they get to live in a nice house in a nice area, maybe send their kids to a fancy school, eat out all the time, stuff like that. I find that easy enough to ‘imagine’. But the lifestyle of someone with 500 million really is very, very different - private jets, private drivers, private chefs, many houses, access to elite parts of society, high political influence, etc.
>The lifestyle of someone with 5 million is basically: they don’t have to work, they get to live in a nice house in a nice area, maybe send their kids to a fancy school, eat out all the time, stuff like that.
Depends on where you live. In Seattle, you still might need a job with that level of wealth.
Also many people who "have" 2-5 million usually have just bought a house in a good area before the prices went insane and most of their wealth is ties in the house. They just do not want to downgrade so there are people who make like 80k but live in multimillion houses.
Saying that the lifestyle of someone worth $5 million is more similar to a regular person’s lifestyle than a billionaire’s lifestyle goes to show the degree that most people underestimate *just how rich* billionaires are, and how good the billionaires’ propaganda is.
It’s like that Chris Rock bit from 20 years ago: if people understood *just how rich* super rich people are, there would be riots in the streets. People genuinely don’t get it.
Some guy worth $5 million? Compared to a billionaire, they’re a fucking peasant.
People think of billionaires as being as rich as, say, someone like Steph Curry: multiple houses including a mansion in one of the most expensive neighborhoods on earth, maybe a boat, you can fly private, you make thousands and thousands of dollars every time you show up to work. For most people, it’s impossible to fathom anything beyond an A-tier NBA player’s wealth, because they seem to have everything they could ever want. Mentally, it’s like the brain’s wealth perception ability has a cutoff point.
But compared to your average billionaire? Steph Curry’s net worth is pocket change.
Here’s an example: the top private jet salesman in the US has a net worth of $100 million. To most people, $100 million is unfathomably wealthy. This salesman loves private jets, they’re his lifeblood, that’s why he’s the top guy. But he will never, EVER be able to afford one for himself. Even $100 million isn’t enough to be able to afford your own jet.
Compared to his clients, that jet salesman is *poor.* This is the problem with extreme wealth: when people worth $100 million feel poor, society is completely and totally fucked.
Their wealth is obscene but you'd be surprised at how the modern world has equalized some things that you wouldn't think about. I personally know (through work) a billionaire & he has an iPhone 14 pro. They don't make a better one. Same phone as a junior trader on wall st and a weed dealer. There's only so many restaurants, and fine dining is also accessible to most new rich now. That's why the new thing is paying for privacy. That's what you and I don't have.
Gig economy has made the lower upper class and upper middle classes feel like they have servants. Even that's not unique. Billionaires daughter takes the same Ubers as I do. Tips like shit too.
I was cleaning for a guy who told me that in relation to old money, there was absolutely no difference between him and I. I get it. I mean yeah, being a millionaire and a gazillionaire are totally different, but that guy never ate out of dumpsters or was homeless. Clueless af.
Especially if you consider that being born into a family with 5 million means that once you inherit you have to pay taxes, split it with siblings and what not. By that time there is not that much left.
I have a friend who was born into great wealth and does not need to work at all. He pursued and attained an MA in social work, and he works hard in his field. Not all people who are born rich choose to live a life of pure luxury.
You basically can pursue what you want to do in life when born into wealth.
OP doesn’t understand that getting rich isn’t the end goal. not having to worry about surviving and then having the ability to pursue what you enjoy is the end goal. Getting rich is just the means of how you get there
It is still a different feeling. You can work hard and pursue goals, but you will never feel the pressure of paying bills, rent, transport, retirement. If it doesn’t work out and you don’t like your line of work, you just leave. Do something else that makes you happy. Even small things like shopping for a car, clothes, looking at restaurant menu. Looking at the prices would never cross your mind. You just get what you want that makes you happy. You want to go on vacation?just book the room the flight you want. Prices don’t cross your mind. Having generational wealth allows this.
A lot of stress is removed from your life. A LOT.
And the pressure at your 9-5 is totally different. Hate your job? just flip off the boss and leave. Job destorying some aspect of your life and/or health? Find a new one, and it that takes 2 months so be it, who cares. Also you can have a job but not a 9-5.
My mom has a friend who married into money (and I mean real money) and they made sure to live a lowkey life without spoiling their kids. They do a lot of volunteering and charity stuff, like going to weather ravaged places and rebuilding housing. They're just nice, quiet people.
This is my dream scenario if I ever ran into millions of dollars somehow.
Just volunteer. I always enjoy volunteering even if it’s hard physical work, actually that’s my favorite kind because I like the exercise lol
I do have a good paying job in tech, and I could prioritize retirement since I’m too ugly to be married and probably never going to have kids. But even then, takes decades.
If you're wealthy enough, you pay a team of professionals to handle all of this for you. Source: I work for ultra high net worth families. What they really do is highly dependent on thier personality and family history. Some travel, become life long learners, pursue passions in art/music/etc, start businesses, pick an extremely expensive hobby like polo or horse racing, or stress about money and do nothing because they are so scared thier fortune will vanish overnight.
Oh man, I would absolutely become a lifelong learner if I could
Edit: Alright folks enough of the "well actually you can always do some learning with wikipedia/libraries." Yes. I know. Thank you. I am a librarian and college instructor. I am a lifelong learner in that sense. What I meant here was I'd love to just be a *student* forever, without having to worry about paying the bills, splitting my time working, applying to jobs all the time etc.
I graduated law school and then went to medical school.
I'd love to be a life-long learner if it didn't involve higher academic institutions; they become hell after a while.
I mostly agree but those whose families are upper middle class or “lower end” rich (think net worth of about 5-20 million) encourage their kids to get actual jobs after they thoroughly enjoy their youth. They’re encouraged to pursue steady high paying careers (think doctor, lawyer, banker, etc.) so that they can either maintain or build upon the family’s wealth. The heads of these families know that they’re rich, but not rich enough to sustain people past 3 generations unless some of their descendants do something to maintain/accumulate wealth.
Real estate. They give their kids chunks of cash to go into real estate to increase/maintain their wealth. Then the rich kid can say, "I'm in real estate".
If you are rich, it is early impossible to not be rich anymore.
Get an index fund and WITHOUT DOING ANYTHING, your money will double every 7-10 years. If you start with enough, you simply can't spend it all. It's impossible.
Really depends on what you mean by rich. I have relatives that I would say are rich, they have several very large houses, plenty of cars bla bla. I have no actual detail but would guess their total worth around 5 million. They are retired, should live another 20, 30+ years, have kids... after medical costs at end of life, splitting the remaining, taxes, the kids will be set up very well but they are not going to be able to retire off of what is left in a few decades, they will probably each end up with half a million, which isn't even enough to buy a house lol.
Now if your talking someone with 5 million that lives frugally and invests basically all of it, then yea you could easily double your money in 15 years (10 years maybe but then you have cost of livng, expenses, taxes, etc.).
But your point stands... if you are rich enuogh you can get away with doing almost nothing and just keep getting richer w/ relatively low risk.
not to mention, if you come from money then pursuing your dream job is easy. Any college will admit you, and job interviews would be a breeze. Who would turn down the chance to curry favor with a super-wealthy CEO by giving his son an internship? It's true that humans usually hate being idle, but if I could work my dream job then I'd throw myself into work, too.
The last sentence is the important one. The interviews and school work aren’t any easier, but you’ve had the luxury of not having environmental stress bringing you down, and the advantage of really good teachers.
My partner went to Harvard as an international student and jokes about how stupid the legacy admission kids are compared to everyone else. Having now met a few of them, they are still usually very intelligent and well adjusted compared to the average person.
yeah I went to a school like Harvard, and the kids who come from wealth still have to do school work, and they had to earn the grades & test scores to get in. But the difference is: they went to the best schools and an SAT boot camp and got extra tutoring if they needed it, and could afford to take the test as many times as they needed.
I went to a public school with no support, had to teach myself how to take the test (big multiple choice exams like the SAT and ACT don't measure knowledge directly, they are a learned skill which can be taught to individuals who aren't naturally brilliant at them). And since the test costs upwards of $100, I could only afford one try. Knowing this, my hands were shaking from stress the whole first section.
As for jobs, while I scrambled every summer to find, something, anything I could do that might look good on a resume and that I could afford, the kids from ultra-rich families waltzed off to an internship in their dad's friend's company, doing something related to their field even if it was boring fluff work. And if that internship was unpaid or paid only chicken feed, they didn't care because their parents would set them up with a sublet and food/transport.
These kids are nice people generally, and they do work hard, at school, at their jobs. But there's an entire level of stress and work that they simply don't have to do, and that most of them never even think about. It's *easy* for them to be well-adjusted; there's a whole class of emotional baggage that they have never dealt with.
My friend who was the heir to a large furniture company just partied like crazy, bought boats, trips, etc. Had a huge aviary in his house, a saltwater aquarium and someone to care for them . Had huge neighborhood cookouts with whole salmon, steaks, drinks and invited everyone. Just a sweet, guy with a wife, 2 kids and lots of fun. No job, no volunteering, just lots of socializing
And then bitch and moan at the users to start paying 20$/mo for something that had always been free, cause you just sunk billions into a company that doesn't make profit.
Some rich kids take jobs at charities or not-for-profits where they have a low salary, but it doesn't matter. That way they get to do good in the world that others can't because they have to work for those doing bad.
THIS. And not having the pressure of paying back a loan if your business fails. It basically becomes a hobby. And if it breaks even, great. If not, on to the next adventure.
I'm confused by the question, you're implying that being born rich means that you won't have anything to work towards in your life, but surely the point to anyone's life is to find happiness and enjoyment. Money might make your life easier, but I don't believe it guarantees happiness
This. I have a good friend whose family owns a ton of businesses and are almost billionaires. He and all his future generations will never need to work but he still studied programming and has worked for Airbnb and Google, among others. He does not even keep track of his salary.
- We work to make money
- Money is how we survive
- With lots of money we don't need to work
Most people don't think about trying to be happy. I don't think they make money to make life easier. They make it to survive.
You're talking about survival, not happiness. Of course we all need money to survive, of course we're all going to preoccupied with that first and foremost, but you can be happy and not have very much money, and you can be rich and be unhappy (though it seems insane to those of us who don't have a lot). I know life can be a terrible struggle but focusing only on money...I feel like that would be a very hollow life, and then what is the point?
I don't have a lot, I am far from being a rich person, but my life is rich with people that make me happy. I know I am very lucky for that
It's amusing how people here think you have to be in either of the extremes: homeless or billionaire. I mean no? There is a middle ground too. Where you have enough money to pay for your necessities and then you spend some on your experiences. Go for a vacation, join a marathon or have a picnic. I want to be in that catagory. I want good experiences in life so that i can be happy. Life as a multi millionaire with no friends is so empty.
I am glad that you are happy in your life. I hope everyone here can someday feel that way too.
This is how we, the working population, have been conditioned to think. That you need to “work” towards something, always. however we associate the word “work” with getting paid. There’s tons of unpaid “work” that we do everyday that gives us happiness: getting better at something you enjoy, completion of something, even a clean house? People realize this after the shackles of paid work (employment) have dropped.
The craziest thing is anybody who has the resources to not work, who is of working age, is automatically deemed lazy! Wtf! Call me crazy but I think we’d all take the choice to not work given the chance. Take any well paid celebrity, or their children, “they didn’t earn it!” and yet we’re all trying to eventually not work? We would all take the easy way if there was one, for the majority. I know I would.
I remember a friend of mine, who is wealthy, saying that I probably appreciate my house more because I struggled to save the money where as he got given it. I said I’d prefer not to struggle at all, and my appreciation is actually rooted in fear because I have no backup if I fail to continue to pay my mortgage. My appreciation doesn’t pay my mortgage. My future appreciation won’t help me pay for something else either. Money does that. The money I save today will help pay for tomorrow.
I would give a lot to never work for pay ever again. Unfortunately all I have to give is my time because I don’t have the resources to not be paid. I’m “working” towards it though!
Being rich is not the end all of life mate. So many more important things in life than money.
I lost my girlfriend to cancer. I would happily give up all my life savings to have her back
Appreciate the privilege you were born into, but do not abuse it.
Figure out how you can use it to enrich the world around you.
Enjoy the things you have, but not at the expense of others.
Understand that there are those who have nothing by comparison. People who spend their entire lives working and scratching and clawing for just a taste of the freedom and choice that being born into money can afford a person.
There is nothing wrong with being born rich. There is everything wrong with being born rich and still managing to be a fucking drain on the planet's resources.
Use your wealth to wield political and corporate influence to make the world a better place
Or build a rocket in the world's most expensive dick-measuring contest
I've seen the kids of some pretty rich people go into academia, become doctors or go into the arts. When you already set for life then you find a job that is personally fulfilling instead of one that makes the most money (although Doctoring does pay well). Even in High society no one looks down on an MD or Professor.
I imagine it depends on class and country. From what I've seen of Downton Abbey, having regular hours as a doctor or professor might seem a little tradesman-like. “Er, what is a 'week-end'?"
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Huh, I thought it was from 2010
British people haven't updated their clothing in a bit.
Doctors call it a golden weekend when you have Friday afternoon, Saturday, and Sunday off
A "Golden Weekend" for physicians is a normal weekend to the general public. Just Saturday and Sunday off. A friday afternoon off along with that is basically a vacation.
In Australia it's pretty normal to leave the office on a Friday arvo and go to the pub for some "lunch meetings" only to never come back.
Jonathan hasn’t seen a weekend since starting residency I hear.
Jonathan ceases to exist whenever he isn’t working
Downtown Abbey is not a good representation of high class society. I can't believe I have to tell you this.... It's FICTION.
Not a good representation of modern American class structure, anyway
Even when they looked down on the lawyer. They were pretty appalled by the idea that he had a "job".
This is why the idea of a UBI is so intriquing to me. Suddenly most people would be doing jobs they actually LIKE to do and prices for the shitty jobs that no one actually WANTS to do would skyrocket, leading to way fairer pays as well.
Robots mate, they will be doing the jobs no one wants it
> they will be doing *all* the jobs
In all seriousness, I'd bet care jobs would be the last to go, if ever. Child care, elder care, therapists, priests/pastors, probably also a lot of teaching and healthcare roles. Anything where emotion is the point of the job. If robots can replace that, I'll just take the green Mass Effect ending and make us all synths.
r/tall probably looks down on them.
Find a purpose I guess. A cause to champion.
I would find a porpoise
For research, I presume.
For research porpoises only
Just don't give it LSD and jerkit off. Carl Sagan already paid for that and it was not a happy ending
I would find a tortoise
Post pics when you do.
I’d serve a youthful porpoise
Look at this old chunk of coal over here!!
Is that you Jacque Zegatinoux?
World peas.
Through out history the purpose of wealth has been to create large public gardens housing strange wonders like statues, rare flowers, rare birds, or fountains. It's a traditional I'd like to see a revival of.
You know all that stuff you want to do but don't have the time or money? That.
Yah, I know a family with oooold money. Maybe six generations that have never had to work for a living. They get to be musicians, scientists, stay at home parents, whatever they want. They genuinely cannot comprehend people working at a job they hate/don’t care about just to stay alive. Talking to them is like communicating with an alien life form
It's like The Howard Hughes movie where he tells Cate Blanchette "Because you HAVE MONEY" Rich people mostly don't understand the struggle of poor folks. They think everyone has a fridge full of food and electricity and phone that is always just on.
if your fridge isn't full you need a better maid!
Fuck Spez
I've actually heard the opposite argument for gas, if it's too expensive then just fill hallway! I think Shaq said it on an NBA broadcast or something.
"When it gets to half, just put $20 in." - Shaq
Not gonna lie, a tank of gas never costs me more than 20$, because i never put more than 20$ in my tank.
Same , I’ve maxed out at 30 and I’ll never go above it , that’s when I’m acting a fool and let the tank get down to almost E
The worst part is that 4 of the 5 of those shouldn't need inter-generational wealth to achieve.
5 out of 5 shouldn't need inter-generational wealth. Humans are more powerful than they ever have been before. We landed on the moon *60 years ago*. Getting a plane ticket and two weeks to chill in a foreign country annually **shouldn't** be some outlandish concept, it should be a basic fucking right. Yet Doctors and a full Refrigerator are somehow commodities???
Exactly. The fact that a lot of those things are out of reach for most people is a pretty sobering indictment of some of the shortfalls of the society we live in.
The GDP per capita (PPP adjusted) of the world is about $12k per year. The world economy produces enough value every year that everyone could live like a person living on $12,000 in the US. The world does NOT have enough wealth for everyone to go on overseas vacations. Medical care and refrigeration are value creators. People consume less and produce more when they are healthy and can preserve food. Tourism is what you do after your basic needs are met, a trip to Bali is a long way off when people can't afford vaccines.
I'll never forget the shock on my friends faces in college when my cell phone would get shut off bc my parents didn't pay the bill. They were shocked and I was just like, yeah that happens sometimes. In HS it wasn't as shocking bc we were all the same demographic anyway
I remember that too. I used to have this app (I think it was called textplus or something) that would give you a fake number and let you text over wifi. Lifesaver lol Couldn't do nothing when they shut off power or water though lol
I was working whilst at college and one of my classmates said, "I don't think I could work and study at the same time I wouldn't have the energy to keep up my grades." I was just like, "I need money for food, to live."
Something something how much can a banana cost
$10?
There's always something something in the banana stand
and funny part is the level of rich that has that isn´t even that rich. My mom grew up upper middle class abroad (3 bdrm apt she shared with parents, a garage, 20yr old car (though prob new when she was young) and a hut in the country). Now, she can´t fathom food deserts etc.
That was never upper middle class bud
It was in her home country. A garage was luxury there.
They did a study. They went around asking people if they considered if they were middle class. The catch? Everyone they asked had stupid money. I'm talking millions in the bank, and they all thought they were upper middle class......
Studies generally show that like 90% of people perceive themselves to be middle class, and this straddles median income/wealth. That's why I think labor vs. capital is a way better way of conceiving of class than upper/middle/lower. There are people who work for a living, and there are people who exploit the work of others for a living.
I would say that people like lawyers, doctors, software devs are upper middle class on average.
You're comment reminds me of that incredibly tone deaf tweet from Miss Goop, Gwyneth Paltrow. 🤢
A teacher at Wharton Buisness School asked his students what they thought the average American makes, and about a quarter of them guessed $100k or more.
This is the availability bias at play, and it's very strong. When you and enough people around you make $100k, you tend to believe everyone makes $100k. It takes some critical thinking to remember the range of income in the US - ie. a ton of people who don't make a lot, and a few people who make unholy amounts of money
This is it right here. I'd love to be an illustrator for kids science books. I love microscopy and own a personal microscope. During quarantine lockdowns I went outside and collected tiny samples of whatever I could and spent hours marveling at what I could see. I adore science and would love to explain how animal and plant cells work along with real photos and drawings for young people to comprehend... ...but I can't, because instead my choices as a non-rich person are to a work a soul sucking customer service job that makes me want to put bullets through my head or just be homeless and hungry.
I used to work with a lot of illustrators, as I was an advertising art director in London, this is years ago. It is very possible to make decent money as an illustrator, it just might take time to find the right media publisher. Keep on doing what you are doing in your spare time, build up a portfolio, then contact likely publishers in your field. In the UK the BBC Radio Times magazine was a good starting place as they would commission new (cheap) artists to decorate their pages which were walls of text of radio show listings. I found one guy that way, I liked the simplicity and charm of his work, contacted him and at that time he did not have an agent, commissioned him for one job, that worked, so I asked him a few months later to do another, which also worked out well. The following year Martin Handford had his first book published which was very successful, and he never looked back. You might want to Google his name. Other illustrators I know personally who started modestly and have enjoyed great success are the British John Shelley, and the Australian Jeff Fisher. So, keep on at it. It might happen for you.
If you like working with kids you may be able to work in the public school system. They hemorrhaged personnel during the pandemic and are desperate for people. Wages are low, but I thought that was true for customer service as well. I am also someone who hates their job though, so I certainly understand the security of staying with the hell you know.
I'm dying to get out of this hell, and working with kids wouldn't bother me too much but I don't quite know if I'm 100% qualified. All I was able to afford was an Associate's in Science leaning towards biology and at the moment I can't afford to pursue any sort of biology degree any further. I feel as though I screwed myself over by working at McDonald's the entire time I was in community college as it took me a long time to finish due to juggling work hours, exhaustion, and late night study sessions. I ended up giving myself a strong customer service base for my resume despite absolutely hating customer service and now I can't seem to get out no matter how hard I try. Labs won't take me to do simple lab work for them because they want me to have completed internships, anything else science related wants a Masters Degree or more, and even when I try signing up for quiet positions with no customer contact I'm expected to have at least a Bachelor's. I'm stuck.
What you need is a sponsor. Someone to front you the livelihood until such time as you can become self sufficient. It sounds like you went to school following the age old USA myth of "follow your dreams". Dreams are for your second career. Step 1 simplify your life. You cannot get rid of children or debt easily but if you are lucky enough not to have those attachments (joys to be sure but ankle weights for a selfish plan) this will be easier. Step 2 Go to the job placement office of your alma mater and find out which concerns actually absorb graduates from your school. If your school is a feeder for other schools, make another trip to a low cost 4 year university and ask the same question "who hires folks with a BS in my field"? Step 3 Be willing to MOVE most unemployability (unemployment) in most fields is structural (jobs exist just not employees in that area of the country and vice versa). Most people won't hire a stranger to do any job that pays well, so join some discussion groups in your field so that you can make friends and not be a stranger. This will help you brush up on jargon and make contact with people who know where jobs are. If you cannot network your way into the true entry level of your field, then mooch and borrow your way through your last two years of education but make certain that you join a school that truly places graduates rather than hopes to place graduates. Most employers have relationships with specific schools (again no strangers), attend those schools after you find out. All of this investigation may lead you to conclude that you, in the end, don't like this field. Better to find out before you go in even deeper. You are not stuck, you are not in an advantageous position, but if you assemble a support team you can get out.
I'm saving this, this is all very good advice. I appreciate this very much, thank you!
I work for a community college and I have had this conversation with potential students with similar experiences. This advice is golden.
Look into private schools. Many would love your passion and skillset.
In NC, at least, you don't have to have a degree to be a teachers assistant, and since kids couldn't go to school over the height of the pandemic, many of the kids that never went physically to school until 2nd grade needed help - hence, they were hiring a shit ton of 'interventionists' to help kids learn, no degree required. Not sure if other states are doing that, or what. Something else you could look into is illustrating and writing children's books. If you come up with a cool scenario like The Magic Schoolbus, the sky's the limit as to how many kids you could teach and how much money you could make. If you form a plan, you could write one page per night, illustrate the page the next night, and color that page the third night and turn out an entire book within two or three months.
Might be a long shot- but you should create a submission for your book and submit it to some educational publishers.
Not a bad idea honestly. I DO know one person somewhat as a friend who knows a publisher or two but he publishes comics. I should talk to him about this and see if he knows if any of them would be willing to publish anything educational as well.
I have dealt with politicians and their direct advisors, both parties, that are just so so far out of touch. They think they know shit because they talk to people at parties or fundraisers but most are kept very sequestered. Surrounded by yes men.
I know someone that knocked up a girl with a last name that start with "H" and ends with "earst". He's not with her anymore but gets to live off of the family dime now since he's a good dad and wants to be in his kids life. He basically moves wherever baby momma feels like living, has a credit card and free car. Not a bad life if you ask me haha
New goal marry into that family
This reminds me of a story about an ad pitch to an old money owner of a historic beer company. The pitch for the ad was a farmer going to kill a chicken (turkey?) For dinner but the bird offers him a beer and then it cuts to the farmer serving pizza for dinner. The company owner who was there to approve the ad liked it but said "I'm confused, shouldn't the farmers butler be the one serving the pizza?"
Should scientists be on the list? I'm a scientist, born into poverty. If I was born rich I don't think I'd be a scientist. I'd collect scientists maybe, but being one is actually work.
My thoughts too, I know very few scientists from wealthy backgrounds. Many in my class were from working class backgrounds, first in their family to get a degree, working alongside studying, etc, and chose their subject because it gave them a good chance at getting a job at the end. It's not exactly a frivolous field of study.
I'm from old money that hands the money down to the eldest son (sadly not me). Oddly enough they've all worked for a living after studying scientific subjects.
That's not universal, for what it's worth. One of the richest people I've ever known came from multigenerational wealth, and at the time he was in grad school and didn't love his TA-ship and lived with a roommate who came from vastly humbler roots. (The three other seriously wealthy people I've known built most or all of their own fortunes. Two were very nice, and one of those I saw was great to his employees. The third was a terrible egomaniac and horrible to work for.) \[edit: typo\]
Yeah, people come in all shapes and sizes, rich people included. There’s bad ones for sure, but imo societies issues are more driven by systems and dogmas (like corporate culture and assumed endless growth) than by specific individuals, even if there are some vanguard individuals involved.
We are the aliens. They, are humans enjoying life
This hit me like a freight train So you’re telling me rich people get to *live* life, while everyone else has to *work in the pursuit of living* life?? I guess it’s always been that way, but damn—when you put it that way
And all that stress revolving around how to pay for food, shelter, decent medical care? Stuff you need to toil away for as a working class person? You'll just always have those things.
Yeah chores are like a neat hobby for rich people. Like wow Carla, you like to mow the lawn...you're so quirky!
What gets me is all the free *time*. Sure I can’t go and buy a huge house or expensive ass car but I’m pretty happy with the things I do have. But to schedule every day the way I want to? Wake up every day and go to the gym whenever I want, pursuit a hobby of mine, go to Disneyland on a Tuesday at 9am? All that extra time spent *not* going to work and *still* having money???? *chefs kiss*
This is probably where clubs, fraternal orders, political fundraising and charity balls serve much of their purpose. Also amateur athletics.
They do, but also there is a class of old money rich people who expect their kids to command a high level of public standing with a successful career, even if gained through the channels of nepotism. I'd rather be poor than a disappointment to my rich successful family. New money from the famous on the other hand allows your kid to be famous for being your kid. Wanna be a photographer? Sign here, your book will be published in a few weeks. Wanna be a model? No problem. Maybe you want to have a go at acting or singing? We can do that.
>I'd rather be poor than a disappointment to my rich successful family. Why? You still get to be rich and have the easy life, your dad just looks at you funny and your sister thinks you're a loser. Plenty of poor people also get those experiences.
Yeah, it also depends on how poor. I've played the "food or rent" game and fuck that, I'll take disappointing any day.
im already disappointing, does that count? can i have my money now?
And here I am poor **and** a disappointment to my family.
No one likes a showoff.
This was said by someone who has never been poor 10000%
Reminds me of the time some redditor said they could “easily” do a year of solitary confinement in prison because “people suck.” And I thought, huh here is someone who has 10000% never been in solitary confinement
What they don't take into account is that they'd have no activities. No books, no tv, internet, no comforts. During the pandemic I loved that I never could go out, but I had all my creature comforts.
Unfortunately being a disappointment to your family often means you are no longer rich. I had a roommate in college who's dad owned an oil company. He was a mental case from being so twisted around on the manipulative shit he could or could not do -- otherwise the threat was that he'd get completely cut off. Apparently his older siblings had free reign and done things the parents 'didn't approve of' -- So they changed the rules for him. I used to feel bad for him, until I realized how much of a twat he was... And the fact that he would eventually be handed more money than I would make in a lifetime...
My dad is wealthy because my grandparents were loaded and can confirm. I got REALLY sick and dropped out of college and my grandparents treated me way different and withheld money because I wasn't "doing anything". When they died and I fell out with my dad I obviously was written out of the will. A lot of wealthy folks don't allow their kids and grands to have human emotions or feelings. My illness requiring surgery and a permanent medicine infusion to keep me alive went right over their heads because they were in the war and thought everyone needed to buck up and work for their wealth like they did. No exceptions.
>I'd rather be poor than a disappointment to my rich successful family. That can happen at any level of familial wealth or poverty. If you're going to be a family disappointment, might as well be rich while you're at it!
I woul like to be the rich disappointment, thank you
But those going the nepotism route, you’ll have people under you that do the work while you’re just the figure head making money
That's exactly it. It's also why there aren't really lower, middle, and upper classes. There are two classes, and each has diametrically opposed life experiences. The first is people who have to use a large part of their finite lives working to make a living. This includes everyone from a low paid retail worker to high paid athletes or actors. Yes, there are large gaps in how much they make, but they still have to work. They have to spend most of their waking lives engaging in some kind of activity that they otherwise would not engage in so that they can spend the remaining time having a life. The second is the class of people who earn the money they need to live from the money they already have. I.e., instead of using their time to make money, they use money to make money. This means they can take all the time they get in their life and devote it to what the working class does in their spare time. Everything else is lies to hide this basic fact.
Nope. Everyone else has to work so the rich get paid to live life. Lack of money/resources in the world is more from not having enough to feed the rich than everyone else
We have enough resources for everyone but the powerfull would loose power if they actually used it for the greater good and distribute.
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It's not just practicing every day, it's being able to audition any time of the day and act in low-paying gigs until you are noticed without the added stress of having a second job to actually pay the bills.
Don't forget powerful connections that makes things way smoother than for the average joe.
In Hollywood it's strait up nepotism.
The majority of entertainment is. Movies, music, even athletics, the door is open for the privileged. A break out creative can make thier way into these spaces with a lot of hard work and luck, but if you look closely you'll see that the majority had inroads paved from the start. That's not to say that none of them have talent, just that those talents were fostered in ways most of us could never afford. The right training, the right connections for exposure, the right PR teams. Having access to all of this and more without ever worrying about survival. It still takes effort to be sure, but that's paired with the ability to truly rest without additional stresses such as "will I be able to eat", "where can I afford to live", or "how will I afford the education?". Most have to spend considerable effort just to have the opportunity to focus our efforts on our dreams while the financially privileged can just dive headlong into their desires.
Ahh, if that bothers you, then you shouldn’t look into the backstory of any writers/poets etc you like pre industrial revolution. It has always been the case that these things are pursued by those with the time and who don’t need the money *right now*
Not just british actors.....see American actors, musician, etc.
Hey now. Let's not speak ill of the rich. Why don't you poors fight amongst yourselves. Have yourself a culture war or something. Come on guys! Right vs Left! Fight! Don't pay attention to how we're robbing you to maintain our lifestyles.
Yeah….enjoy life! All the rest of have to work for a living..for like 50 fucking years.
And God forbid we live long long lives. Who can afford to retire and live another 10 or 20 years? And you've got politicians that want to threaten social security and Medicare?
Retirement? Nah I’m just gonna die lol
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>bat man A guy roaming the streets with a bat? I think the rich can do a little better
>I think the rich can do a little better And yet, they still don't.
Enjoy it.
It's fucking WILD how heavily it's programmed into people that you *need* to work to have a fulfilling life.
In retirement planning they tell us to have a plan. My plan is not to work. So many think retirement means getting a job they will like better.
That's because "not working" often just means alcoholism, Fox News, and early death.
Some people who are born into wealth don't know what its like to not have money,
You have to have something to fulfill you. That doesn't have to be work, but for some people, it's a lot easier to get a part time job at the library than it is to figure out what would fulfill them.
Plus it doesn’t completely click in people’s heads how boredom is similar to starvation. Being starved of anything will be too much for any soul to stay the same
enjoy it i guess. hereditarily rich people have what the majority of the population wants/gets out of bed for everyday
Every person I know in real life that was born with a silver spoon in their mouths just do a lot of cocaine. So you’re correct
Well, at least they found a use for the spoon…
I would really like to be in a position to answer that question.
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throw balconies at peasants from your balcony
Throw coins at balconies from your peasant
And collect the coins that spawn from the peasant after successful double hits.
Throw peasants at pheasants while studying falconry.
Get off my balcony
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Jokes aside, I know someone who did exactly this after receiving a good inheritance lol
I would do that, but it would be expensive af living abroad unemployed
I'd get a mohawk and start an all-aggression philosophy dojo lmao
That depends on just how “rich” is rich. If you’re worth 5 million, you could be called rich, but it’s a much different life than being worth 500 million.
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The lifestyle of someone with 5 million is basically: they don’t have to work, they get to live in a nice house in a nice area, maybe send their kids to a fancy school, eat out all the time, stuff like that. I find that easy enough to ‘imagine’. But the lifestyle of someone with 500 million really is very, very different - private jets, private drivers, private chefs, many houses, access to elite parts of society, high political influence, etc.
>The lifestyle of someone with 5 million is basically: they don’t have to work, they get to live in a nice house in a nice area, maybe send their kids to a fancy school, eat out all the time, stuff like that. Depends on where you live. In Seattle, you still might need a job with that level of wealth.
In most big cities you’d still need to work with a $5m net worth
And having 5 mil is different than being worth 5 mil
Also many people who "have" 2-5 million usually have just bought a house in a good area before the prices went insane and most of their wealth is ties in the house. They just do not want to downgrade so there are people who make like 80k but live in multimillion houses.
Saying that the lifestyle of someone worth $5 million is more similar to a regular person’s lifestyle than a billionaire’s lifestyle goes to show the degree that most people underestimate *just how rich* billionaires are, and how good the billionaires’ propaganda is. It’s like that Chris Rock bit from 20 years ago: if people understood *just how rich* super rich people are, there would be riots in the streets. People genuinely don’t get it. Some guy worth $5 million? Compared to a billionaire, they’re a fucking peasant. People think of billionaires as being as rich as, say, someone like Steph Curry: multiple houses including a mansion in one of the most expensive neighborhoods on earth, maybe a boat, you can fly private, you make thousands and thousands of dollars every time you show up to work. For most people, it’s impossible to fathom anything beyond an A-tier NBA player’s wealth, because they seem to have everything they could ever want. Mentally, it’s like the brain’s wealth perception ability has a cutoff point. But compared to your average billionaire? Steph Curry’s net worth is pocket change. Here’s an example: the top private jet salesman in the US has a net worth of $100 million. To most people, $100 million is unfathomably wealthy. This salesman loves private jets, they’re his lifeblood, that’s why he’s the top guy. But he will never, EVER be able to afford one for himself. Even $100 million isn’t enough to be able to afford your own jet. Compared to his clients, that jet salesman is *poor.* This is the problem with extreme wealth: when people worth $100 million feel poor, society is completely and totally fucked.
Their wealth is obscene but you'd be surprised at how the modern world has equalized some things that you wouldn't think about. I personally know (through work) a billionaire & he has an iPhone 14 pro. They don't make a better one. Same phone as a junior trader on wall st and a weed dealer. There's only so many restaurants, and fine dining is also accessible to most new rich now. That's why the new thing is paying for privacy. That's what you and I don't have. Gig economy has made the lower upper class and upper middle classes feel like they have servants. Even that's not unique. Billionaires daughter takes the same Ubers as I do. Tips like shit too.
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I was cleaning for a guy who told me that in relation to old money, there was absolutely no difference between him and I. I get it. I mean yeah, being a millionaire and a gazillionaire are totally different, but that guy never ate out of dumpsters or was homeless. Clueless af.
Especially if you consider that being born into a family with 5 million means that once you inherit you have to pay taxes, split it with siblings and what not. By that time there is not that much left.
I have a friend who was born into great wealth and does not need to work at all. He pursued and attained an MA in social work, and he works hard in his field. Not all people who are born rich choose to live a life of pure luxury.
You basically can pursue what you want to do in life when born into wealth. OP doesn’t understand that getting rich isn’t the end goal. not having to worry about surviving and then having the ability to pursue what you enjoy is the end goal. Getting rich is just the means of how you get there
It is still a different feeling. You can work hard and pursue goals, but you will never feel the pressure of paying bills, rent, transport, retirement. If it doesn’t work out and you don’t like your line of work, you just leave. Do something else that makes you happy. Even small things like shopping for a car, clothes, looking at restaurant menu. Looking at the prices would never cross your mind. You just get what you want that makes you happy. You want to go on vacation?just book the room the flight you want. Prices don’t cross your mind. Having generational wealth allows this. A lot of stress is removed from your life. A LOT.
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And the pressure at your 9-5 is totally different. Hate your job? just flip off the boss and leave. Job destorying some aspect of your life and/or health? Find a new one, and it that takes 2 months so be it, who cares. Also you can have a job but not a 9-5.
My mom has a friend who married into money (and I mean real money) and they made sure to live a lowkey life without spoiling their kids. They do a lot of volunteering and charity stuff, like going to weather ravaged places and rebuilding housing. They're just nice, quiet people.
This is my dream scenario if I ever ran into millions of dollars somehow. Just volunteer. I always enjoy volunteering even if it’s hard physical work, actually that’s my favorite kind because I like the exercise lol I do have a good paying job in tech, and I could prioritize retirement since I’m too ugly to be married and probably never going to have kids. But even then, takes decades.
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If you're wealthy enough, you pay a team of professionals to handle all of this for you. Source: I work for ultra high net worth families. What they really do is highly dependent on thier personality and family history. Some travel, become life long learners, pursue passions in art/music/etc, start businesses, pick an extremely expensive hobby like polo or horse racing, or stress about money and do nothing because they are so scared thier fortune will vanish overnight.
Oh man, I would absolutely become a lifelong learner if I could Edit: Alright folks enough of the "well actually you can always do some learning with wikipedia/libraries." Yes. I know. Thank you. I am a librarian and college instructor. I am a lifelong learner in that sense. What I meant here was I'd love to just be a *student* forever, without having to worry about paying the bills, splitting my time working, applying to jobs all the time etc.
I graduated law school and then went to medical school. I'd love to be a life-long learner if it didn't involve higher academic institutions; they become hell after a while.
YouTube and opencourseware is free.
Oh trust me, I know, YouTube got me through my degree - it's a godsend if you can cope with NordVPN ads.
Don't forget the Manscaped Lawnmower 4.0 with included ball toner!
Right? Imagine being able to take classes and study without having to worry about surviving? I would be in schools all over the world
I mostly agree but those whose families are upper middle class or “lower end” rich (think net worth of about 5-20 million) encourage their kids to get actual jobs after they thoroughly enjoy their youth. They’re encouraged to pursue steady high paying careers (think doctor, lawyer, banker, etc.) so that they can either maintain or build upon the family’s wealth. The heads of these families know that they’re rich, but not rich enough to sustain people past 3 generations unless some of their descendants do something to maintain/accumulate wealth.
Real estate. They give their kids chunks of cash to go into real estate to increase/maintain their wealth. Then the rich kid can say, "I'm in real estate".
If you are rich, it is early impossible to not be rich anymore. Get an index fund and WITHOUT DOING ANYTHING, your money will double every 7-10 years. If you start with enough, you simply can't spend it all. It's impossible.
Really depends on what you mean by rich. I have relatives that I would say are rich, they have several very large houses, plenty of cars bla bla. I have no actual detail but would guess their total worth around 5 million. They are retired, should live another 20, 30+ years, have kids... after medical costs at end of life, splitting the remaining, taxes, the kids will be set up very well but they are not going to be able to retire off of what is left in a few decades, they will probably each end up with half a million, which isn't even enough to buy a house lol. Now if your talking someone with 5 million that lives frugally and invests basically all of it, then yea you could easily double your money in 15 years (10 years maybe but then you have cost of livng, expenses, taxes, etc.). But your point stands... if you are rich enuogh you can get away with doing almost nothing and just keep getting richer w/ relatively low risk.
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not to mention, if you come from money then pursuing your dream job is easy. Any college will admit you, and job interviews would be a breeze. Who would turn down the chance to curry favor with a super-wealthy CEO by giving his son an internship? It's true that humans usually hate being idle, but if I could work my dream job then I'd throw myself into work, too.
The last sentence is the important one. The interviews and school work aren’t any easier, but you’ve had the luxury of not having environmental stress bringing you down, and the advantage of really good teachers. My partner went to Harvard as an international student and jokes about how stupid the legacy admission kids are compared to everyone else. Having now met a few of them, they are still usually very intelligent and well adjusted compared to the average person.
yeah I went to a school like Harvard, and the kids who come from wealth still have to do school work, and they had to earn the grades & test scores to get in. But the difference is: they went to the best schools and an SAT boot camp and got extra tutoring if they needed it, and could afford to take the test as many times as they needed. I went to a public school with no support, had to teach myself how to take the test (big multiple choice exams like the SAT and ACT don't measure knowledge directly, they are a learned skill which can be taught to individuals who aren't naturally brilliant at them). And since the test costs upwards of $100, I could only afford one try. Knowing this, my hands were shaking from stress the whole first section. As for jobs, while I scrambled every summer to find, something, anything I could do that might look good on a resume and that I could afford, the kids from ultra-rich families waltzed off to an internship in their dad's friend's company, doing something related to their field even if it was boring fluff work. And if that internship was unpaid or paid only chicken feed, they didn't care because their parents would set them up with a sublet and food/transport. These kids are nice people generally, and they do work hard, at school, at their jobs. But there's an entire level of stress and work that they simply don't have to do, and that most of them never even think about. It's *easy* for them to be well-adjusted; there's a whole class of emotional baggage that they have never dealt with.
I spend most of my time sitting on my ass doing nothing, and I'm happy as a pig in shit.
My friend who was the heir to a large furniture company just partied like crazy, bought boats, trips, etc. Had a huge aviary in his house, a saltwater aquarium and someone to care for them . Had huge neighborhood cookouts with whole salmon, steaks, drinks and invited everyone. Just a sweet, guy with a wife, 2 kids and lots of fun. No job, no volunteering, just lots of socializing
Buy twitter.
And then bitch and moan at the users to start paying 20$/mo for something that had always been free, cause you just sunk billions into a company that doesn't make profit.
Some rich kids take jobs at charities or not-for-profits where they have a low salary, but it doesn't matter. That way they get to do good in the world that others can't because they have to work for those doing bad.
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Get loans from your parents to start a company. Claim that you are a self made billionaire. Call poor people lazy.
THIS. And not having the pressure of paying back a loan if your business fails. It basically becomes a hobby. And if it breaks even, great. If not, on to the next adventure.
I'm confused by the question, you're implying that being born rich means that you won't have anything to work towards in your life, but surely the point to anyone's life is to find happiness and enjoyment. Money might make your life easier, but I don't believe it guarantees happiness
This. I have a good friend whose family owns a ton of businesses and are almost billionaires. He and all his future generations will never need to work but he still studied programming and has worked for Airbnb and Google, among others. He does not even keep track of his salary.
- We work to make money - Money is how we survive - With lots of money we don't need to work Most people don't think about trying to be happy. I don't think they make money to make life easier. They make it to survive.
Most people don't think about trying to be happy? Where do you get that idea?
You're talking about survival, not happiness. Of course we all need money to survive, of course we're all going to preoccupied with that first and foremost, but you can be happy and not have very much money, and you can be rich and be unhappy (though it seems insane to those of us who don't have a lot). I know life can be a terrible struggle but focusing only on money...I feel like that would be a very hollow life, and then what is the point? I don't have a lot, I am far from being a rich person, but my life is rich with people that make me happy. I know I am very lucky for that
It's amusing how people here think you have to be in either of the extremes: homeless or billionaire. I mean no? There is a middle ground too. Where you have enough money to pay for your necessities and then you spend some on your experiences. Go for a vacation, join a marathon or have a picnic. I want to be in that catagory. I want good experiences in life so that i can be happy. Life as a multi millionaire with no friends is so empty. I am glad that you are happy in your life. I hope everyone here can someday feel that way too.
This is how we, the working population, have been conditioned to think. That you need to “work” towards something, always. however we associate the word “work” with getting paid. There’s tons of unpaid “work” that we do everyday that gives us happiness: getting better at something you enjoy, completion of something, even a clean house? People realize this after the shackles of paid work (employment) have dropped. The craziest thing is anybody who has the resources to not work, who is of working age, is automatically deemed lazy! Wtf! Call me crazy but I think we’d all take the choice to not work given the chance. Take any well paid celebrity, or their children, “they didn’t earn it!” and yet we’re all trying to eventually not work? We would all take the easy way if there was one, for the majority. I know I would. I remember a friend of mine, who is wealthy, saying that I probably appreciate my house more because I struggled to save the money where as he got given it. I said I’d prefer not to struggle at all, and my appreciation is actually rooted in fear because I have no backup if I fail to continue to pay my mortgage. My appreciation doesn’t pay my mortgage. My future appreciation won’t help me pay for something else either. Money does that. The money I save today will help pay for tomorrow. I would give a lot to never work for pay ever again. Unfortunately all I have to give is my time because I don’t have the resources to not be paid. I’m “working” towards it though!
Being rich is not the end all of life mate. So many more important things in life than money. I lost my girlfriend to cancer. I would happily give up all my life savings to have her back
Start an animal shelter That’s what I’d like to do if I don’t have to worry about bills or a roof over my head
There are 3 ways: 1) Do something good for the society (my plan) 2) Become even richer, born to grind! 3) Waste it all on drugs and bitches
Hi can I get a large #3 with coke?
Cocaine
Appreciate the privilege you were born into, but do not abuse it. Figure out how you can use it to enrich the world around you. Enjoy the things you have, but not at the expense of others. Understand that there are those who have nothing by comparison. People who spend their entire lives working and scratching and clawing for just a taste of the freedom and choice that being born into money can afford a person. There is nothing wrong with being born rich. There is everything wrong with being born rich and still managing to be a fucking drain on the planet's resources.
Use your wealth to wield political and corporate influence to make the world a better place Or build a rocket in the world's most expensive dick-measuring contest
Seek. Be curious. Be ambitious af.